Share a story – one that makes you laugh/smile looking back at
My latest flare up lasted six months – the worst it’s ever been, and I love looking back on pictures of myself, because I notice a big difference between when I was giving up, and then when I decided to take things into my own hands. I couldn’t do the things I loved for months on end because of how uncomfortable I was, but yet I look back with a smile because I overcame that place in my life myself, and I feel better than I did before that flare up. So to anyone out there losing a little hope every day, it does get better. There’s light at the end of the tunnel. I promise.
How long have you had eczema?
I’ve had eczema since I was a baby. My mum always tells me stories about how I had to be wrapped up in bandages, slathered in creams just to help the dryness and itchiness, and she told me I had a dermatologist, which is insane to me, because last time I was at the doctors, they refused to give me one essentially.
What would you like people to know?
I want people to know that there are people just like you with a skin condition around you. They just might be hiding it too. I remember when my friend told me for the first time she had eczema too, I just kinda sat there, staring and thinking, ‘I’m not the only one’ because before that, I hadn’t met anyone else with eczema and it felt so isolating. But as I grew older, I saw that more and more people would mention every now and then about their random patches of eczema. So my advice to anyone struggling would be that, there are people out there who have this skin condition you have, but in order to find those people, you have to be open about it, and you have to be able to accept it as a part of you. It’s taken a while, but I did find people similar to me. And I found people who could relate and it helped a considerable amount.
What has your skin taught you?
My skin taught me how irregular everything in life can be. One day I can have just a tiny patch here and there, and the next day I could be as red as a tomato. And in an odd way, it’s taught me to embrace the uniqueness of my own skin. I believe that I have eczema to make others feel less alone in their journey’s, so with my writing, I will always always always have representation of eczema characters, and other skin conditions in my books, because I want someone with eczema to look at that character, point and smile, muttering to themselves that they see a part of themselves in that character.
It’s also taught me how important it is to take advantage of the golden moments, more blissful and calm moments, because I don’t know when my next bad day is, and I don’t know when my next flare up is. All I know is to embrace how I feel in the moment, and if I am in the midst of a storm, I know brighter days are coming. I’ve battled a flare up before and came out shining, I can do it again. And you can too.
What would you like the people without eczema to know?
I’d like people to know that eczema is not disgusting and it’s normal for a lot of people out there. I’d like them to know that sometimes, it’s difficult to live with, and that sometimes, it’s difficult to talk about, but that doesn’t mean it’s invisible. Eczema does not make up who we are, neither does the itching.
I remember going to the doctors, sitting down in front of them, telling them how I felt about steroids, and how I didn’t want to use them any longer in fear of becoming dependent on them, and I remember them telling me I have to stay on them longer or else I can’t get a dermatologist appointment. So instead, I began doing my own, more indepth research about taking care of myself. I began drinking more, and taking care of my mental health more, and THAT was the real game changer for me, personally. The realisation that my GP wasn’t going to save me, and I had to do it myself.
Advice on self accepting and love I began accepting that I couldn’t 100% control my skin, and it’s a very much, up and down thing I have with my relationship with eczema. But most days it’s simply looking in the mirror before a shower or something, and telling myself over and over and over again that I love my skin, it’s not flawed and it’s perfect just the way it is, until I start to believe it. Journaling helps a lot too, airing out all of my thoughts and I was lucky when I found these amazing online friends after my worst flare up, I spoke to them about any skin troubles and issues I was having.
And this account, ‘itch_N_bitch‘ has helped me as well, with the casual memes and casual affirmations popping up on my feed makes me smile and feel less alone in general. It’s reassuring that there’s a community out there full of people who go through similar struggles as me.
Itch N Bitch 